


Wings

by bookwyrmling



Series: Pillar Pair Weeks 2016 [1]
Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: Childhood Memories, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, It Gets Better, M/M, Minorly Injured Animal, Time Skips
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-20
Updated: 2017-08-20
Packaged: 2018-12-17 22:03:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11860533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bookwyrmling/pseuds/bookwyrmling
Summary: “That’s what birds are supposed to do,” his grandfather explained to the sniffling boy he held on his knees that evening.  “Birds are born to fly—it’s why they have wings.  Who are you to tell it not to do what it was born to do?  If you help a bird, then you know you did the very best job when it flies away.”





	Wings

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Day 2 of the 2016 Pillar Pair Weeks. Prompt: Flight
> 
> Cross-posted from Tumblr.

When Kunimitsu was six years old, he found a mejiro in the backyard with a broken wing.  Having been taught to respect and care for nature—his mother had taught him how to sweep up bugs and take them outside when they got in the house (even centipedes which were big and scary) years ago—he had picked it up as carefully as possible and brought it inside.

“It is a good thing to want to help, but if you cannot care for an animal, it is best to leave it to nature,” his grandfather had tried to explain when Kunimitsu had first brought it to the man, “Do you know what they eat?  How to fix its wing?”

“C’mon, dad, it’s good he showed such forethought,” Kunimitsu’s father had replied before bringing out a box for Kunimitsu to fill with grass and leaves and place the bird into.  “We’ll take it to the vet and see what he says,” Kuniharu continued after cutting air holes in the lid so the bird could breathe but wouldn’t escape.

Kunimitsu held on to the box as carefully as he could and held back against the temptation of pulling off the lid to watch.  “You might be a little person, but to this little mejiro you are very big and scary,” his father had explained when he had caught Kunimitsu peeking earlier, “We don’t want to scare him or he might injure himself more.”

The vet was able to wrap the creature’s wing, but could not say if it would heal enough for the bird to fly again.  “Mejiro are good pets, though, so you might be able to find someone to take this one in,” she had said while giving them a list of supplies they would need to take care of the bird in the meanwhile.

Kunimitsu was diligent in his care of the small bird, feeding it throughout the day with soft fruits and watching carefully when it drank water to make sure it would not fall in and drown.  He named it Mei.  He liked when the bird was no longer scared of him and would hop up to his fingers.

Three weeks later, while taking off the bandage to test the wing, the bird flew away and Kunimitsu was inconsolable, shouting for Mei in the backyard until his mother physically carried him back into the house.

“That’s what birds are supposed to do,” his grandfather explained to the sniffling boy he held on his knees that evening.  “Birds are born to fly—it’s why they have wings.  Who are you to tell it not to do what it was born to do?  If you help a bird, then you know you did the very best job when it flies away."

Eight years later, Kunimitsu went by Tezuka and buchou and met a boy with invisible broken wings.  Tezuka could see them every time he took to the tennis court.  He took him in and brought the other regulars along to help Echizen Ryoma while he healed and grew.  Tezuka told himself daily not to grow attached and, when the twelve-year old left for America after winning Seigaku the National title, Tezuka told himself that was that.

“You did your job,” he told the twinge in his chest as the team watched the plane take off, “He’s supposed to fly away.”

Years later, when Tezuka—now Kunimitsu, at least for his Ryoma—admits to this, Ryoma snorts.  “We were flying to the same place,” he points out, “We just had to take different routes to get there.”

And Tezuka smiles.


End file.
